WHY MOVE?

Just as movement is medicine, a lack of movement can cause disease in our bodies. During this time of fewer visits to the gym, fewer activities and much more time at home, many are moving less and less. After all, the walk from the kitchen to the couch to the bathroom to the home office… that isn’t very far to travel. The incremental movement that occurs between the things we normally do in life is absent. Maybe not noticeably at first. But, that achy back, those sore knees, the brain fog, or even that physically “flat” feeling we sometimes complain about can actually be because our bodies are designed to move, and the lack of movement results in a reduction in what we call “movement health.” Even regular bouts of exercise cannot make up for what we are losing by not moving enough throughout the day.

Now, to most people, movement health sounds like it has something to do with exercise. Yes, exercise is important, but what I am talking about is inhabiting a body that moves freely, with ease, and with less restriction. Because when you move well, you think well, you live well and you feel well! It is crucial to understand that, unless exercise programs are designed to also improve movement health, it is something that has to be pursued separately. In other words, it is possible to be very fit and lacking in movement health. Kind of like a Ferrari with flat tires.

The bottom line is that the more we move, the better our bodies will function. I often think of a very simple analogy when thinking of a lack of movement and its impact on the body. Most biological systems in the body require motion for them to happen and function well. When you don’t move, it is akin to the condition of stagnant water in swamps. No one wants a “swampy body.”

Move… How?

Well, the simple answer is to think of the overused postures we use in our everyday lives, such as sitting. We can start with doing the opposite of that, which is standing and walking more.

But, let me take it a step further. The Institute of Motion has identified six fundamental movement categories and being able to maintain our ability to do these movement patterns with competence and confidence will ensure that we can do “life” with ease and no restrictions.

These movements can be and should be embedded into exercise programs. This ensures that we are either fortifying or re-invigorating our body’s ability to do these things. It’s creating a body that is more Play-Doh than porcelain.

These six movement categories are integrated into every single one Melsonby Outdoor Fitness’s sessions and are designed to help you get back and keep your movement mojo:

The fundamental movement categories are:

• Lunging, or the ability to take a stride by removing one foot from the ground. Think of hiking or climbing stairs. This is how the lunge plays out in real life. Working on the lunging pattern improves hip mobility, balance, coordination and leg strength.
• Squatting, or the ability to bend through the ankle, knee and hips to lower our center of gravity. Every time you sit down in a chair or drop to a toilet seat, you are squatting. It is crucial to maintain the lower body mobility and strength to be able to do this movement for life.
• Ground to Standing movements enhance our ability to transition from various ground postures (supine, side-lying, prone, kneeling, seated) to standing postures. In other words, it prevents us from ever reaching a state where, “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up.”
• Rotating is a very efficient motion that the body uses regularly. It comes into play in sports and life! Most joints in the body have at least some ability to rotate, and as the saying goes, if you don’t use it (that rotary ability) then you lose it!
• Walking, as we all know, is one of the easiest forms of movement to help us reach the recommended amount of physical activity to promote or sustain health benefits. It is also the movement pattern of freedom and independence. Losing the ability to walk, with a healthy gait, for any length of time really has a negative impact on quality of life.

In a society where sedentary lifestyle is on the rise, certain movement abilities become lost or diminished as we age, leading to many issues affecting our quality of life. Programming these fundamental movement categories into an overall exercise program is highly encouraged for individuals looking to restore and enhance movement function and successfully age.

Even when we don’t know the path ahead, getting beyond COVID-19 requires movement. So… let’s move!

Principle #5: Sleep affects what you eat — as well as your overall health.

There is one reoccurring thing that I have seen more than anything over many years of coaching — People can nail everything with their nutrition but still struggle to reach their goals. Often, that’s because they’re not getting enough sleep.

And they only make progress once they prioritize sleep.

What’s the connection?

If you sleep 5 or 6 hours when you really need 7 or 8, you keep your body in a chronically sleep-deprived state, impairing your body’s ability to regulate several key hormones.

• Ghrelin levels rise, triggering hunger.
• Leptin falls, so it takes longer to feel full.
• Endocannabinoids increase, making your perception of foods seem more pleasurable.

End result: You can’t keep yourself away from the biccies, choccies and crisps

By not getting enough sleep, you’re just hungrier and you crave your treats more than you otherwise would.

You’re also tired, so you exercise and move less and more awake time means more time to raid the kitchen.

Bottom line: Sleep-deprived people tend to eat at least 300 more daily calories than people who get enough sleep.

In addition to interfering with weight loss, lack of sleep also erodes health.

Just one night of sleep deprivation can lead to increased blood pressure the following day — and did you know each year, when nearly 1.5 billion people lose an hour of sleep due to daylight savings time, rates of heart attacks jump.

What does this mean for you?

Most of us just aren’t sleeping enough.

Going to bed at midnight and getting up at 6? It’s not going to cut it.

If you aren’t sure what to do about lack of sleep then I have put some information together in the Power of Sleep infographic below.

Among the various types of whole foods, fruit and veg deserve special mention.

Fruits and veggies are loaded with health-promoting antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and Phytonutrients.

And a huge body of evidence from the past 20 years definitively shows that consuming more of them can help prevent a wide range of health problems, including diabetes, stroke, heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer.

For example, by simply increasing vegetable and fruit intake, experts predict that we could prevent 20 percent or more of all cancer cases and avoid approximately 200,000 cancer-related deaths annually.

An increasing number of studies also suggest that consuming a diet rich in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory foods such as fruits and vegetables may lower the risk of developing neurodegenerative disease.

And, when it comes to cognitive performance, food beats supplements. Once nutrients, such as antioxidants, are isolated from friuts and veggies and inserted into capsules, they seem to lose some (perhaps all) of their power.

Finally, an eating pattern rich in fruits and veggies can help you more easily control your weight. This effect is thanks to their fiber and water content, which helps fill you up on fewer calories. An entire head of cauliflower, for example, contains only about 150 calories.

What does this mean for you?

No one fruit or veggie is king. Rather than sticking to one magic powerfood — for example, eating blueberries every single day — aim for a variety. Try to eat a wide rainbow of colors everyday. Have a look at the infographic below for a bit of guidance.

Principle #3: As food processing increases, nutrient density decreases.

Please do not look at the title of this one and think all processed food is bad for you — that’s not what I’m saying! Because lets face it, in this day and age unless you grow all of your own veg, nuts and fruit and also rear your own cattle, chickens etc then the products that you eat are all processed in one way or another. Its all on a continuum, what I am saying here is that the MORE processed something is the LESS nutritious it is!

Minimally-processed whole foods (such as grains, nuts, eggs, and fish) contain a vast selection of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients (plant nutrients), and zoonutrients (animal nutrients).

Though we’re still unraveling exactly which nutrients do what, a wealth of research consistently points to one resounding conclusion:

Humans are healthier when they consume more whole foods and fewer refined ones.

This is probably because the greater the degree of processing, the higher the likelihood that a food:

• Has lost nutritional value, such as fiber, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and zoonutrients.
• Has gained additives, preservatives, fillers, sugar, sodium, unhealthy fats, and/or refined starch.

This is a lot easier to see when you compare specific whole foods to their more highly-processed equivalents.

As you can see below, the less-processed steak and potato dinner contains about 350 fewer calories and a fraction of the sodium as the fast food burger with fries, as well as a heck of a lot more protein, fiber, and other nutrients.

That’s just one comparison.

But you could analyze any whole food along with its more refined counterpart and see similar differences in calories, sodium, and nutrients.

So it makes sense that a diet rich in minimally-processed whole foods can lead to lower rates of heart disease, cancer, depression, and type 2 diabetes, among other health problems.

Minimally-processed whole foods are also rich in fiber and/or protein — two nutrients that help bolster satiety. And they tend to have fewer calories per serving than highly-processed refined foods.

Both traits make it easier for us to control our weight.

One randomized controlled trial even found that people ate a stunning 500 more calories per day when they consumed a diet rich in ultra-processed foods compared to a diet rich in minimally-processed whole foods. That’s essentially the equivalent of consuming an extra meal a day.

In fact, minimally-processed whole foods may be what all successful diets share in common.

Recent studies have shown that participants experienced the same amount of weight loss — regardless of carb or fat intake — as long as they minimized their consumption of refined sugars, flours, and other processed foods while emphasizing whole foods like veggies. (these are very enlightening studies id anyone would like to read them :-))

They also experienced similar improvements in blood pressure, insulin, glucose, and cholesterol levels.

What does this mean for you?

I’m 100 percent confident about the importance of whole foods, but I’m also extremely confident about something else:

Progress is much more important than perfection.

So rather than separating foods into “whole” and “not whole” categories, imagine a spectrum. As you can see from the graphic below, as food becomes more processed and refined, it loses a little bit of its nutritional power.

The goal with whole foods isn’t to get things “perfect.” Instead, focus on making them “just a little bit better.”

A rotisserie chicken from the supermarket may not be a pastured, lovingly hand-raised, heritage Chanticleer roasted in a high-end convection oven… but it sure beats chicken nuggets.

So the take home message is try to eat foods as close to their natural form as possible, but don’t go from almost zero to almost hero, just go for BETTER!!

Here endeth the lesson

So hopefully you read and enjoyed yesterdays article all about calories in and calories out, or CICO as it is known. This has been debated since the dawn of nutritional science and I am sure that you have heard someone, at some point, (maybe even me in the past) utter those words “its easy, just move more and eat less” but hopefully you now know that there is far more to it then that. It makes me feel queasy to think that I used to believe that losing weight, if that is your outcome goal, is easy — it most certainly isn’t and there is far more too it than just “move more and eat less”… but luckily I am now far older and wiser… well definitely older anyway..

Now there will be those of you out there that read this and think… “well, that’s all I did” and I get it because that’s what I thought and, on numerous occasions, said. BUT in reality that wasn’t was I did at all — in reality, and although not purposefully, I also radically changed my nutrition.

Most of all I radically changed the QUALITY of the food that I was eating and also massively cut down on the amount of Stella I was pouring down my neck (but thats a different subject altogether). In actual fact I INCREASED the amount of food I was eating.

Yes, I was training for an Ironman at the time but the point I am trying to make is that I actually ate more, but more of the right stuff and I was already very active anyway and so I didn’t move more I just moved differently… BUT the thing I increased most was protein and so that brings us nicely to our next principle.

Principle #2: Protein is the most important macronutrient to get right.

Why? Two reasons.

Reason #1: It helps you eat less, without feeling so hungry.

Research consistently shows that protein helps you feel fuller for longer and, as a result, lose weight.

That’s, in part, because it takes longer for the body to break down protein than it does carbs or fat.

Protein also stimulates the release of satiety hormones in the gut which means when you eat protein, you naturally tend to eat less.

And it makes a big difference. Doubling your protein intake could help you to spontaneously consume 400 fewer calories a day. For reference, that’s roughly the number of calories in 1 ½ cups of ice cream.

If you don’t believe me then test the power of protein for yourself.

On one day, eat 150g to 250g of plain skinless chicken for every meal. Then track your hunger for the rest of the day, rating it once an hour on a 1 to 5 scale.

The following day, eat 1 ⅔ to 2 cups of cooked pasta for each meal. Again track your hunger on a 1 to 5 scale.

Then take a look at your data to see which method resulted in higher hunger ratings over the course of the day.

Reason #2: Protein makes it easier to build and maintain muscle.

Without adequate protein, our bodies just can’t function well. We need amino acids (protein’s building blocks) to produce important molecules like enzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters, and antibodies.

So when we don’t eat enough protein, our bodies plunder it from elsewhere, like our muscles, resulting in muscle loss. This is especially true if we’re eating fewer calories than we’re burning. Muscle loss means lower metabolic rate which in turn means less calories burned overall.

On the flip side, a high-protein diet seems to maximize muscle protein synthesis, which should lead to more muscle gain for people who are strength training and consuming enough calories.

This is probably one of the reasons high-protein diets are better for improving body composition than normal or low-protein diets.

A review of 38 studies found that, for people who are out of shape, consuming extra protein won’t magically build any muscle — no surprises there. But for people who are really pushing themselves in the gym, eating more protein seems to boost their results, helping them gain even more muscle. (if you really want to see these studies then I will let you have them :-))

What does this mean for you?

The right amount of protein for each person varies on a number of factors such as age, gender, and goals.

Someone interested in packing on muscle for a bodybuilding competition might aim for as many as 50 grams of protein (or about two palm-size portions of meat) at every meal. Someone hoping to work off 20 extra pounds is going to need much less than that.

If you are unsure of how much protein, or any other macro-nutrient (Carbs and fat) you should be having per day then please feel free to contact me — ootbmovementandnutrition@gmail.com and I will ask you a few questions and then provide you with a nutritional guide that will answer those questions for you.

Keep Safe

Mark

The thing I love most about nutrition, apart from helping people of course, is sifting through the research and gaining a sound understanding of the fundamental principles behind what the actual scientific evidence says. Because lets face it there is a lot BS out there! There isn’t a day goes by that I don’t stare flabbergasted at something on the TV, in a magazine or on social media that causes me to deep sigh, cup my face in exasperation or knock my head off the table.

Sometimes the BS is that convincing that I really do question myself and think “have I missed something?” or “have I completely misunderstood that?” and so I head back to the science and have a check and happily, most of the time, I resurface knowing that I hadn’t missed something and I did understand.

BUT, I am a self confessed nutritional geek and I know that not everyone (well hardly anyone really :-)) does this and therefore can fall foul of the cacophony of nutritional BS that is out there — and so I will save you the hassle.

A lot of people that DO know and DO understand the science all agree that there are 5 universal principles of good nutrition and over the next 5 days I will be imparting this wisdom on you — so if you are interested in hearing the actual truth then please read on.

Principle #1: Weight loss and weight gain come down to one key equation.

Everyone knows this one, though not everyone believes it. It’s the energy balance equation, also known as calories in, calories out (or CICO for short), and it looks like this:

[Energy in] — [Energy out] = Changes in body stores

In other words:

When you take in more energy (or calories) than you burn, you gain weight.

When you take in less energy than you burn, you lose weight.

When you take in the same energy as you burn, you maintain.

So you might be wondering: How do we know this with absolute certainty whereas “wine is bad/good for you” is still up for debate?

First, like gravity, this principle is easy to test. With gravity, you can continually release a heavy object. No matter how many times you try it, the object falls.

It’s the same with energy balance. If you reduce “energy in” and increase “energy out,” you always get the same result: Bodyweight goes down.

Second, the energy balance equation comes from the first law of thermodynamics: Energy can neither be created or destroyed, only transferred from one state to another.

Humans can’t create energy from nothing. We convert it from food. And any excess energy we take in doesn’t magically vanish: Your body either increases “energy out” (often by turning up the metabolism) or stores the excess.

Scientific laws are as close to facts as we can get. Can they be updated over time? Of Course But in this case, however, the law has stood firm for well over a century.

So, why do some people say “Not all calories are equal!”?

In a word: confusion.

As you can see from the illustration below, many complex factors influence “calories in” and “calories out.” Your brain, especially, can turn up or turn down metabolism, exerting a massive influence on “calories out.”

To better understand the universality of energy balance, let’s circle back to another law you may have studied in physics class: the law of gravity.

Like energy balance, it’s also represented by the equation F = ma (force equals mass times acceleration). The basic equation applies to every object, dropped from any height. But a lot of factors affect it — like air resistance — making it seem like it’s not true.

Similarly, with food and humans, the basic equation never changes. It’s true of all foods consumed in all situations.

But, lots of factors can affect different parts of the equation.

What does this mean for you?

If you want to gain or lose body mass, you’ll want to consider overall energy balance and how to shift it in your favour. Here are a few ways to do just that.

To reduce calories in:

Consume more fiber-rich vegetables to reduce the number of calories your body absorbs.

Consume more protein to reduce appetite and therefore overall energy intake.

Eat slowly so you can tune into hunger and fullness signals, and stop eating when you are satisfied, not stuffed.

Use hand portions to guide how much you eat. (covered in a previous post)

Get enough sleep to reduce hunger and cravings for sweets.

Practice self care to reduce stress and improve sleep — both important for a healthy metabolism.

To increase calories out:

Add cardio to burn more calories.

Add strength training to build more muscle, boost overall metabolism, and burn more calories.

Increase daily activity by taking the stairs, parking farther from your destination, and/or using an activity tracker to nudge you to take more steps.

Boost protein intake to increase the thermic effect of digestion.

Well that’s the first principle covered, if you have any questions then please do not hesitate to contact me either the the FB page or at ootbmovementandnutrition@gmail.com

Superfoods’ vs ‘regular’ foods: Why nutrition facts don’t tell the whole story.

Are superfoods always the right choice for your health? These 5 comparisons could change how you think about nutrition forever.

Plenty of people hate kale.

It doesn’t matter that it’s a so-called “superfood.” (And yes, it is pretty super.)

After all, you can’t help what you like… or don’t like.

But should you force down a “superfood” even if you detest it?

Not necessarily.

While it’s popular to put some foods on a pedestal above others, there’s more to healthy eating than just the nutrition facts.

Context matters. Preferences matter. Goals matter.

It’s never as simple as “good” vs “bad”or “healthy” vs. “unhealthy.”

To show you why, here’s a closer look at five celebrated “superfoods” and their less publicized — and sometimes demonized — counterparts:

• Nutrient-packed kale vs. basically-just-water iceberg lettuce
• Power grain quinoa vs. plain old white rice
• Cancer-fighting blueberries vs. starchy bananas
• Trendy coconut oil vs. kitchen-staple olive oil
• Fat-fighting egg whites vs. cholesterol-boosting whole eggs… or perfectly-balanced whole eggs vs. woefully-incomplete egg whites (depending on your point of view)

You may be surprised at what we found.

The Intention: To empower you to choose what they eat depending on what’s most important to them, not an arbitrary list of food “rules.”

This infographic will help you do just that.

This easy-to-use visual guide shows you how to make healthier nutrition choices, and determine the best foods for your body, goals, and taste buds. In fact, the simple three-step process helps you create a customised healthy-eating menu in just a matter of minutes. And the best part: Nothing’s off limits.

One of the most popular questions that I hear is “What foods should I eat?”

Its a question that is often asked in desperation — there is so much information out there and so much conflicting advice that even I get confused and frustrated. You can’t watch the TV, listen to the radio, read a magazine or look at social media without having some kind of nutrition advice quite literally rammed down your throat… no pun intended. There is always someone demonizing something and if you listened to everyone then you wouldn’t eat anything

Over and over, I get asked asked:

• Are potatoes good or bad?
• What about eggs?
• Can I eat pasta?
• Is cheese okay?
• Do I have to live without bacon?

To add to the confusion, it’s not always obvious how to classify a food. Is it mostly protein? A carbohydrate? A fat? Many people know to eat a mix of these macronutrients, yet aren’t sure how that looks in “real food”. The result: more questions.

So what is the best advice? …. do what is right for you! there are no one size fits all diets or nutritional plans, YOU need to be in control and only change what you are willing to change at this precise moment — and the most successful changes are the ones that that are sustainable. There is little bit of a trade off here and that is that this way may take a little more time, but in the long run it is far more rewarding because as your habits change so do you. You set yourself up for success not failure, the changes you make fit in with YOUR real life not one of an already super fit media icon and all of those things you like are NOT off the list and so you don’t feel guilty when you have the odd beer, glass of wine or choccy bar.

To get you started I would like to share with you one of the best visual food guides that I have come across, developed by the company Precision Nutrition, the leading nutritional education institute in the world (and also where I got a lot of my qualifications). It’s designed to help you make healthier choices, no matter your knowledge of nutrition.

But don’t expect a list of “approved” and “off-limits” foods. Instead, think of foods on a spectrum from “eat more” to “eat some” to “eat less”.

This approach promotes one of the most crucial philosophies that runs through successful nutrition coaching methodology: Progress, not perfection — or as I like to say: Always Better

Use the continuums to make choices that are “just a little bit better,” whether you’re eating at home, dining out with friends, or dealing with banquet buffets on a work trip.

Plus, learn how to:

• Incorporate a mix of proteins, vegetables, carbohydrates, and fat.
• Strategically improve your food choices — based on where you are right now — to feel, move, and look better.
• Customize your intake for your individual lifestyle and (of course) taste buds.

As a bonus, there is a space so that you can create your own personal continuum. That way, you can build a delicious menu of healthy foods that are right for you — no questions asked.

I hope you enjoy it and use it to help you make the changes that you would like to make to your nutrition. If you have any questions or would like the infographic in a printable format then please do not hesitate to contact me at ootbmovementandnutrition@gmail.com

Never press “pause” on your health and fitness again. This tool may well be your secret weapon.

“I’ll get back to the gym as soon as…

… work slows down.

… the kids are back in school.

… we’re done working on the house.”

Most of us can come up with any number of worthy-feeling justifications for taking a “breather” from our health and fitness efforts.

But often, it all comes down to the one essential reason:

“Life is busy and stressful. Something has to give… I need to press ‘pause’ until things slow down and are less crazy.”

Except… things never really slow down permanently.

So we get stuck in an endless cycle: Giving health and fitness our all, then inevitably giving up when there’s something standing in the way of getting to the gym, eating well, or heading to bed at a reasonable hour.

With that all-or-nothing approach, we never really get anywhere.

But what if there were a way to for you to keep making progress — even during the busiest days, weeks, and months?

Introducing the “dial” method: an incredibly simple tool for scaling your health habits up and down based on what’s going on in your life.

Just like you would do with the thermostat in your house, if it too warm (you are too stressed/busy) then knock it down a few notches or when you need a bit more heat (you have a bit more time), crank it up a few notches.

Instead of “all or nothing,” this method helps you strive for “always something.”

The best part? You’ll never have to worry about “falling off the fitness wagon” again.

Want help becoming the healthiest, fittest, strongest version of you?

Most people know that regular movement, eating well, sleep, and stress management are important for looking and feeling better. Yet they need help applying that knowledge in the context of their busy, sometimes stressful lives.

That’s why I work closely with Out of the Box clients to help them lose fat, get stronger, and improve their health… no matter what challenges they’re dealing with.

For more information about how I could help you please contact ootbmovementandnutrition@gmail.com

Work stressing you out? Life in general? Having trouble staying consistent with your exercise and nutrition plan? If so, this article is for you.

Why do most guys tend to get weaker, fatter, and less healthy when they get into their 30s, 40s, and 50s? Chalk it up to increased stress, increased responsibilities, and decreased time and energy.

We know we need to eat better. We know we need to take better care of ourselves. But most men simply have a hard time staying consistent with their nutrition and exercise plans.

After helping hundreds of men at Out of the Box Movement and Nutrition, I’ve seen it all — and I know there’s a solution.

You can take control of your own health and fitness. You can reverse the downward spiral of stress, and start building a healthy body you can be proud of.

And you can do it all in an hour or two per week.

Seriously.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• the two biggest fitness-related problems that hold men back from getting and staying in shape, and
• how to overcome these obstacles to get the body — and life — you want.

Problem #1:
Your life is busier than it’s ever been.

Some interesting things start to happen as we exit our 20s and enter our 30s, 40s, and 50s:

• We tend to get less sleep and wake up tired and sore.
• Our sex hormones peak… and then start their slow decline.
• Our crackling ankles, knees, and wrists remind us that we’re getting older.
• We tend to snack and overeat more often, especially in the evenings.
• We do less binge drinking, but more consistent drinking. Polishing off a bottle of wine or drinking a few beers each night becomes an ordinary routine.

Of course it’s not all negative. Lots of positive things start happening too:

• If we’re lucky, we get a good career that’s challenging and rewarding.
• We make more money than when we were younger.
• We develop long-lasting relationships with people we love.
• We start building and nurturing a family.
• We become (presumably) smarter and more experienced.

While every man’s life experience is different, there are a few things that remain consistent no matter who you are. For most men, getting older usually means:

• increased responsibilities at home
• increased stress from work
• less time to take care of themselves

This is how we end up with a gym membership we rarely use, a healthy cookbook we rarely open, and a body we’re not particularly proud of.

Sure, we want to drop some fat and look more muscular and fit… but we just don’t have the time or energy. Someday, we tell ourselves, we’re finally going to get our ass in gear.

The only problem? “someday” keeps getting postponed.

According to research, lots of guys are so stressed out with work and family obligations, that they don’t feel like they have the time or energy to “really commit” to a nutrition or exercise plan.

But what if you didn’t have to dedicate a huge portion of your life to getting in shape?

What most guys do when they feel busy and stressed:

• Let their busy schedule overtake their health.
• Set huge fitness goals they don’t have a miracle of hitting.
• Continue to add body fat and beat themselves up for not making a change.

What you can do to be successful:

• Embrace exercise minimalism.
• Identify the biggest gap in your nutrition and work on fixing it (while ignoring everything else).

Embrace exercise minimalism.

You don’t have to spend hours in the gym to get in better shape.

This is not “the big sell” but I usually give people 4 workout options

• Full workout
• At-home workout (minimal equipment)
• Quick workout (don’t have much time)
• Do your own workout

I also give them the ability to modify their workouts, with more difficult or less difficult exercises, depending on how they’re feeling that day. That way they’re always doing something rather than nothing. (Because let’s face it: the gym is the first thing to go when we get busy and stressed at work.)

So how do you embrace exercise minimalism on your own?

If you’re looking for something to try this week, here’s a plan I wrote for a good friend of mine who was struggling to find time to exercise. It’s a simple, strategic way for busy men to get their weekly exercise in without stressing out about missing the gym.

And the whole thing takes just over an hour per week.

Day 1: 15 minutes — Pushups x 10 reps, Inverted rows x 10 reps, Kettlebell swings x 10 reps, Rest 1 minute,Repeat 5x

Day 2: 6 minutes — 2 minute walk, 15 second sprint , Rest 15 seconds, Repeat 5x, 2 minute walk

Day 3: 15 minutes — Pushups x 10 reps, Reverse crunches x 10 reps, Goblet squats with dumbbell x 10 reps, Rest 1 minute,Repeat 5x

Repeat for next 3 days and rest for the 7th

To make continual progress, it’s important to do one thing to make each workout more challenging every time you do it.

For strength workouts, this means doing additional repetitions or reducing the rest time between rounds. For the sprinting workout, this means increasing the speed, or the number of repeated sprints.

It doesn’t matter what you choose, as long as you do one thing more than the last time.

Identify the biggest gap in your nutrition and work on fixing it.

According to research, most men know how important nutrition is for looking and feeling better. And they know they need to follow some sort of nutrition plan. However, they don’t know where to start. (Or they start a new diet and try to change everything at once, which usually fails).

Instead of trying to change everything about the way you eat right now — which will just add to your stress levels — I encourage you to follow this advice

Pick one thing about the way you eat — the thing you think will make the biggest improvement to your nutrition — and focus on it exclusively for a couple of weeks.

Once you’ve been consistent for 14–21 days, then you can pick another thing to try. The goal is to practice simple, strategic actions that build over time.

So how do you know what thing to pick? Easy. Just ask yourself this question:

“What’s the one thing I could do right now to feel better about my nutrition?”

Chances are you have a good idea on what you need to do. Here’s a short list of what some of men have focused on:

Goal: Drink less beer
Action: Instead of drinking two beers every night, have one beer.

Goal: Eat less junk/fast food
Action: Instead of stopping in for a burger or taco for lunch, go to a grocery store and get a pre-made salad with chicken on it.

Goal: Reduce carbohydrates.
Action: Instead of ordering fries at dinner, get a salad. Instead of having a breakfast sandwich, order scrambled eggs.

The idea here is to pick the one nutrition practice that will make the biggest impact on your body and health right now.

If you need help deciding what that is — or if you just want to follow a proven nutrition plan — well, that’s what I do best. A good first step would be to contact me and learn more at ootbmovementandnutrition@gmail.com

Problem #2:
You know what to do… but you’re just not consistent.

This is the mother-lode of all problems. According to research, roughly 65 percent of men (and likely a lot more) report that they struggle with staying consistent.

And it’s not like they’re complete exercise beginners. Here’s what most guys have tried before getting results with me:

• P90X, Insanity, and other workout DVDs
• CrossFit and other group workouts
• Fitbit, Apple Watch and other wearable fitness technology
• Popular diets like intermittent fasting, paleo, and low-carb
• Workout books and magazine articles

Of course, these aren’t “bad” options. They end up working for SOME people. But eventually most of these methods and tools begin to break down and fail over time.

Why is that?

It’s because they’re surface solutions. They help solve a surface-level problem.

• Don’t have a gym to train at? Now you do.
• Want to track how many calories you eat? Here’s an app.
• Want to know how many steps you’re taking? Wear this bracelet thing.

The only problem with surface-level solutions? They only work for a little while.

They don’t account for the ups and downs of everyday life. They don’t adapt to your life. And because of that, they don’t help you stay consistent.

What most guys do when they fail to be consistent.

• Pick another surface solution to follow.

What you can do to be successful:

• Make yourself accountable to a program.
• Make yourself accountable to a person.

Make yourself accountable to a program.

Ideally, you want a program that covers a few bases:

• It’s been tested with lots of people (so you know it actually works).
• It’s customizable to your lifestyle (so you can stay consistent and do it even when you’re busy).
• It’s something you actually enjoy doing (who’s going to exercise if it’s not fun?).
• It supports your deepest reasons for wanting to change.

So how do you know if a certain program will help keep you accountable?

After 30+ years in the fitness industry, I’ve determined that the following four things are of the utmost importance:

• You need a way to measure your progress and track it on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
• You need to follow a structured plan, but still have room to move at your own speed when needed.
• You need a daily reminder to practice whichever nutrition, exercise, or lifestyle habit you’re currently working on.
• You need it to be customizable to your skill levels, goals, and how much time you have available.

Make yourself accountable to a person.

This tip isn’t for everyone but it can often make the difference between consistently getting great results or falling off the wagon.

Personal accountability is more important than personal motivation for one simple reason: No one always feels motivated to go to the gym or make healthy eating choices.

But if we have someone who’s checking up on us to see how things are going, we’ll likely do better because a) we don’t want to disappoint the person who’s helping us and b) we don’t want to look or feel lazy.

If we’re accountable to another person, we’ll actually do the workouts and eat the food we need to look and feel great. And we’ll do it over and over again, even when the going gets tough.

That’s why the most successful guys become accountable to another person. It could be a friend or workout partner. It could be your spouse. It could be a local personal trainer or fitness expert.

Or if you want to join my coaching programme, I can help you too.

You can contact me at ootbmovementandnutrition@gmail.com

The important thing is that you make yourself accountable to somebody.